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At the start, when I saw Ruuji and Tiaga, who had not even met yet, as the poem was read, I figured it was about them getting together. I was kinda right, but during the series I sometimes had my doubts and the ending did surprise me.

This is a remarkable anime in which there are no space aliens, no superheroes, no robots, no time travel, and not even magic. It is just ordinary people with exceptional personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Mostly it is about high school and I often though about my high school years and how similar things happened then.

Another feature is that even though I figured Ryuuji and Taiga would get together from the start, the anime brought in something surprising in each episode and kept me guessing to the very end. That takes real skill.

I would have given this a "10," except that the animation is not stellar. It is very good, though. And, to tell you the truth, the characters and stories are so compelling I did not actually notice that much.

I enjoyed the use of the anime genre, in which characters' appearance change according to mood and even the obvious corny stuff, like the double spittake by Ryuuji and Tiaga when they realized Kitamura knew Kawashima and the overly-dramatic scenes with Kushieda.

Character development and transformation is really well done. We learn about the characters and they learn about themselves.

I guess the main thing is that this is a credible story about people similar to people I've known. It resonates with my life experiences and reminded me of what high school is supposed to be about. It also reminded me that often the problem in life is not so much ability or opportunity as recognizing what is standing right in front of you.

Spoiler for favorite scenes:

This is hard to say because there are so many good scenes. But, one is definitely in Episode 8 when Taiga proclaims, "Ryuuji is mine!! Nobody touch him!" and we see the reactions of the others. Scenes from the Oobashi High School Cultural festival were great. Ami and Taiga singing together were awesome. Taiga pushing Ryuuji into the river was amazing. And, of course there is the very last scene. (I'd add about 20 more, but I have to cut things off somewhere.)